University of Miami coach Al Golden said Wednesday that his No. 13 Hurricanes have concentrated solely on themselves this week before they shift their focus to next Thursday night’s North Carolina game.

And, in true Golden form, he answered a question about “national recognition” for Miami being “slow” considering what the Hurricanes have achieved thus far, by saying, “I don’t think we’ve achieved anything yet.”

Speaking on the Atlantic Coast Conference coaches’ teleconference, Golden told the reporter who noted Miami (5-0, 1-0 ACC) is undefeated and its wins over Florida and Georgia Tech were pretty impressive, “You know, we were 4-0 in the out-of-conference [games]. We locked that up, put that in a chest and threw it away.

“Then, obviously in our first ACC contest last week, Georgia Tech played really well. We turned the ball over, had some penalties that we had to get cleaned up. We were fortunate to win. So we’re 1-0 in the conference and now we’re playing North Carolina.

Sign Up and Save

“The rest of it we don’t worry about very much. It all shakes out on the field… Hopefully we can continue to keep that bunker mentality and not worry about the external and just stay focused first this week on taking care of our academics and improving in our fundamentals.’’

Getting treatment

Golden said his “chief concern” regarding quarterback Stephen Morris, who has been playing very well the past few games, is getting him healthy for the Tar Heels (1-4, 0-2 ACC).

Morris sustained a deep right-ankle bruise against Savannah State on Sept. 21, and as of Saturday against Georgia Tech it was painful. Golden said after the victory that Morris had reassured him that he was fine whenever the coach asked leading up to the game.

“We’ve held him out the last few days,” Golden said Wednesday. “We’re being more aggressive in the treatment schedule, which we can be because we’re not working on North Carolina yet. He seems to be doing great, making a lot of progress.”

Then, Golden added: “I’m not taking Stephen for his word anymore. I’m going to make sure myself that he’s OK. Hopefully we’ll get him OK here in the next 48 hours or 72 hours and get him ready for game week. There is no question he’s been playing good football for us.”

• Wide receiver

Rashawn Scott

(shoulder/collarbone) is “running routes full speed,” Golden said. “Whether he’s able to take a hit yet, I don’t know. But he’s running routes and doing all the non-contact stuff and looks pretty good.”

Read Next

Jaelan Phillips, the nation’s No. 1 overall, five-star recruit in 2017, is transferring to the University of Miami. Phillips played his first two seasons at UCLA, but had injury issues, including concussion symptoms.